Page 39 of Wrath's Flame
“SOMEONE GET DOC IN HERE NOW!”I scream as loud as I can.
Fucking hell, please let him be okay; I can’t lose him. I won't survive it. Gently rubbing his wrists where the chains have been chafing, I wait for Doc to get in here. I don't dare touch anywhere else right now. I don't want to accidentally cause more damage. Everywhere I can see, he's either bruised or bleeding.
Seconds later, Doc's rushing into the room. He shoves me towards Flame’s head, not caring that I'm Devil's Inferno's President, and I don't fight him; I just move where he wants me. All I care about right now is him helping Flame.
“I need space, Prez. Stay by his head and keep him calm if he comes too. He’s going to be in a fuckload of pain. I don’t know if he was aware when you all arrived. So knowing my luck, if he comes too, he's going to come to swinging. I'd rather not be on the receiving end of Flame’s fists.”Doc quickly says before grabbing gauze and bandages from his bag and patching up Flame the best he can for now before we head back to The Compound, where he can do a proper job.
I just sit by his head and gently stroke his hair, which is currently covered in grime and grease, but I couldn't care less. I need to have my hands on him, and I'm hoping that it will help keep him calm if he wakes up. Flame hasn’t moved at all while Doc has been working, and it's fucking worrying me. I want to see his bright blue eyes. No, I don't want; I need to fucking see them. I have no idea how long I’ve been sitting here, just staring at his face. I feel a tap on my shoulder and look up at Rock and Eagle standing there.
“Rock’s going to carry him out of here; he’s the biggest fucker we’ve got right now. We need to get him home so Doc can work on him properly. He’s stable for now, according to Doc.”Eagle explains gently while eyeing me warily. He's obviously worried about how I'm going to react.
“Are you going to be okay with that, Prez?”Rock asks me, his voice filled with compassion.
Nodding, I stand and watch as Rock quickly scoops up Flame bridal style, carefully carrying him out of this dump. I follow behind and jump in the back of the SUV that Jake has outside. He’s the only Prospect here with us; we needed someone we trusted to drive an SUV so we could safely transport Flame home. None of us were ever under the assumption that Flame would be uninjured after being missing for over forty-eight hours.
Rock places Flame inside the SUV with his head in my lap and closes the door. Jake then takes off back towards The Compound. All that keeps going through my head is how grateful I am that Flame's alive and in my arms, even if he's worse for wear right now. I can’t stop watching his chest rise and fall; it’s the only comfort I have right now.
I knew he'd be hurt, but I don't think I really processed that. Seeing my normally larger-than-life Flame in this condition fucking hurts my heart. He's one of the strongest people I know, and his body tells the story of just what those two fuckers did to him, no doubt all on Claire's orders. They're going to regret what they've done; the things I have planned for them would make even some of my Devil's Inferno brothers cringe, but I don't care. These assholes fucking deserve every ounce of pain they're going to receive from my hands. This isn't about Devil's Inferno, not really. No, this is personal, and even though I normally leave the torturing to my Enforcers, this time these two are going to get up close and personal with me. It's what they deserve. They've no idea what's coming, and I can't fucking wait.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Flame
Beep. Beep. Beep.
That's all I can hear as I wake up. What the fuck is that annoying sound? Slowly opening my eyes, I take in my surroundings and am surprised by what I can see. I’m somehow in the Devil's Inferno infirmary; I’d recognize the place anywhere. How the fuck did I get here?
The last thing I remember is Thing One and Thing Two getting stabby, then I think I passed out from my blood loss. When I look next to my bed, I can't help but smile. Wrath's asleep in a chair by my bed. He looks like he’s hardly slept at all while I’ve been gone, his eyes showing dark rings underneath them. He probably hasn’t slept much; he’d have been far too worried about what was happening to me. Slowly, I reach out and touch his knee, which immediately causes him to shoot up in his chair, wide awake.
When he looks over at me, I can see he's been crying; his eyes are red-ringed, and he looks heartbroken. God, I hate that he's had to go through this. It makes me want to wring Claire's neck even more than I did before.
"Oh, thank God, you’re awake. Are you trying to kill me? You've been fucking unconscious for two days!”He shouts, which causes me to wince. I've still got a headache.
“Sorry,”he says, lowering his voice, which I appreciate.“You scared the shit out of me; we got you out two days ago, and you’ve been out of it ever since; we didn’t even know if you were aware when we rescued you. Doc kept reassuring me you’d be okay and that your body was just keeping you out of it while you recovered, but I couldn’t believe that until I saw you awake with my own eyes.”
“Come here,”I say, holding my arms out.
He's not Wrath the Devil's Inferno President right now; he’s Jackson, the love of my life who’s absolutely terrified after I was taken and has no doubt spent the past two days sitting in that chair waiting for me to wake up. I need to hold him and reassure him that I'm really okay.
He shakes his head as he says,“I can't; you’re hurt.”
“Come. Here.”I say again, my voice brokering no arguments. I don't care if I'm hurting physically; he's hurting emotionally and mentally, and he needs me.
He finally listens, obviously realizing I'm not going to change my mind, and carefully climbs into the bed next to me.
“Put your head on my chest; I promise it’s okay; whatever Doc has going into my body through this IV must be the good shit. I’m feeling no pain at all,”I whisper to him.
He does as I ask. I can feel his body shaking and tears soaking through the gown someone obviously put on me once we were here. God, he's breaking my heart. I've never, in all the years I've known him, seen him react like this. I guess it's different for him now that we're actually a couple, and he admitted to himself how he really feels about me.
“Shh. I’m okay. I’m right here with you. I’m not going anywhere. I’m sorry I got taken, and you’ve been hereworrying about me so much.”I say while stroking his back, hoping to reassure him.
He doesn't say anything back; he just releases all the emotions he's been bottling up since I was taken. I don’t know how long it takes, but I feel the tears stop and his breathing even out. He’s fallen asleep, and he clearly needs it too. I don’t mind him falling asleep on my chest; I’ll sleep better knowing he’s here in my arms. I can't help but smile at that, slowly closing my eyes, I drift off to sleep with the knowledge that I’m back where I belong. I'm home.
∞∞∞
The next time I wake up, I immediately smile. I can still feel Wrath on my chest, but I know he's awake as I can feel his finger slowly stroking the side of my face. I turn my head slightly so I can see him, and he slowly leans forward, giving me a light kiss on the lips.
As he pulls back, he whispers,“I’m so glad you're safe. I felt like they’d stolen half of me when you were missing.”
